


Sleeping Bosozoku

by chinchillasinunison



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sleeping Beauty Fusion, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Retellings, M/M, She/Her Pronouns for Fujisaki Chihiro, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29067981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinchillasinunison/pseuds/chinchillasinunison
Summary: Prince Mondo Owada is cursed by a cold-hearted warlock to die at the age of 16 by pricking his finger on the splinter of a butter churn. However, thanks to his brother's persuasion and the graces of a good fairy, his sure execution is muddled. He will face his destiny not in death, but ageless sleep, only to wake from his slumber by true love's kiss.
Relationships: Fujisaki Chihiro & Owada Mondo, Hagakure Yasuhiro & Kuwata Leon & Oowada Mondo, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo, Owada Daiya & Owada Mondo
Comments: 55
Kudos: 108





	1. Three Gifts and One Curse

Once upon a time, there lived a king and queen in a grand castle of glistening stone in a land called Diamanfous. Though they were not in desperate need of an heir, as they already had an elder son, it was still a grand celebration throughout the kingdom when the second son was born. Now, in his first few days of life, Prince Mondo was heralded at a fabulous ball in the palace where nobility of nearly all creeds were invited to attend.

A member of neighboring nobility, a waifish man with an anxious air, strode down the aisle to the throne and took a knee before the bassinet.

"On behalf of the kingdom of Pierrfaite, we send you well wishes for this most blessed birth. I apologise for my father's absence... as well as my wife's. She is, uh, sick with child... b-but the birth should be in a month or so, and we believe she will pull through…"

He was met with indifferent glares from the parents, while the elder brother of six years looked up at him strangely.

"Right. My apologies for rambling." He leaned over the bassinet and gazed at the baby. He was a wee, chubby thing with lavender eyes, his little arms wrapped around a stuffed dog doll the size of him, sucking on one of its ears. The older boy peaked over the side with great interest.

"That's my little brother," Prince Daiya informed him.

The noble, Prince Takaaki of the Ishimaru dynasty, gave him a little smile and a polite nod. Then, he turned to the rulers.

"My gift to the prince on this fine day is my child's hand. In time, they will wed and our kingdoms will unite into a glorious future. That future is my gift."

The king and queen nodded. The betrothal was discussed at length between the royals previously as soon as the pregnancies were apparent, but this was the first time it was publicly acknowledged. The partygoers applauded as Takaaki drew away with a respectfully lowered head. Daiya glanced at his mother, confused.

"Ma, what's Mondo gonna do with some kid's hand? Are they gonna cut it off?"

"Quiet."

Soon after she said that, three small balls of light drifted through the glass of the window: red-orange, green, and yellow. When they reached the floor, they transformed into vaguely humanoid figures. The crowd parted for the beings, marveling at their otherworldly appearance as they strolled towards the prince.

"Fairies…" Daiya quietly gasped.

The first to arrive was one with a body made of dancing flames which popped and sizzled as he moved along the floor. Like a fire, too, he moved fast. Daiya made a move to protect his brother, but the being paused and spoke in an affable tone.

"Yo! What's up, little prince?" His hand ruffled Daiya's dark hair. The fire did not burn, but was pleasantly warm on his crown. "I'm Leon, Fairy of Flame." Daiya thought it was a very fitting name. "I'm super stoked to bless your bro, no pun intended. Been hammering the spell out all night, hope ya like it!"

Leon bent over the bassinet, the flames of his fingertips spreading along its edge, even to the hood hanging above. The prongs of fire frolicked near Mondo's head and he was transfixed. Leon cleared his throat and spoke in verse:

_"I gift his sire_

_The gift of fire_

_His heart will be an undying pyre_

_As a future ruler he'll shine bright_

_And blind naysayers with furious light!"_

The magical flames leapt into the prince's heart, making the babe shine like a star for a second before it faded away, prompting ooo-s and ahh-s. The fairy pumped his fist at their approval.

"My bro's gonna shoot fire?!" squealed Daiya, bouncing with excitement.

Leon chuckled. "Nah, nah, it's metaphorical fire. Like passionate emotions and stuff."

"Oh, okay." He couldn't help sounding a touch disappointed.

The royals thanked him and the Fairy of Flame rushed to the rest of his kin, his form billowing with pride. "Didya hear how I rhymed 'sire' with 'fire' and 'pyre'? Came up with that all by myself!"

"It sounded lovely, Leon…" assured the next of them softly as she made her way to the throne. This fairy was of solid material, unlike the ephemeral Fairy of Flame. She was slight and small in stature and she resembled a daisy: her head was the sunny yellow center circled by puffs of pollen, her collar made of oversized white petals, her body stem and leaf and her skirts tangles of brown roots. With each step, flowers sprang up between the fibers of the long red carpet. When she stood before the royal family, her cheeks went rosy.

"Ah, sorry. I get embarrassed introducing myself like this." She curtseyed. "Chihiro, Fairy of Flora. It's an honor, Your Majesties."

She strolled over to the little prince and smiled at him. Mondo babbled pleasantly at her. Vines snaked along the edges of the bassinet.

_"One gift I bare_

_The gift of care_

_His word unbreakable once he swears_

_Protective of the meek and small_

_Concerned about the thoughts of all."_

The vines wrapped around the babe's head and bloomed with foxglove and white peonies. The flower crown steadily disappeared as she made her way back to the sidelines, the article fading into green sparkles that floated down into nothingness. One of those sparkles was caught in his nose upon inhaling and Mondo sneezed.

The final fairy stepped forward. This one was rather tall, his skin made of sunshine. Great rays of light like the dawn peering over the horizon beamed from his head. He wore a loose cloak crafted from the constellations. Daiya could sense that this one was special. Despite that, he spoke with an even more casual affect than the Fairy of Flame.

"Alright, little dude. As the Fairy of Fortune, I can see _juuust_ the gift you really need when you're grown. Ya better thank me later, heh. Generously."

He began reciting his spell, but only got two words in when the palace doors gave way to a massive gust of wind and the festivities were rudely interrupted. A man dressed to the nines in a dark green suit entered. He carried a silver staff and a dark purple raven perched on his shoulder. The atmosphere grew thick from rising tension as he walked towards the royal family. The Fairy of Fortune jumped from his path with a yelp of terror. Everyone knew who he was: Byakuya Togami, a powerful warlock and leader of the ancient Togami Coven.

He grinned wryly, viciously. "My, my! What an assortment we have here." He adjusted his glasses. "How peculiar. One might assume you were in the middle of a grandiose ceremony. But that just can't be so! Surely, if such a monumental event were taking place, Your Excellencies would have invited the mightiest warlock in the land..."

His smile faded and he glared daggers at them.

"Get out," the king spat. "Your dark magic is not welcome here."

"Hm. Funny. I recall you asking for the Togami Coven's services on many occasions, but now that we're out in the open you want nothing to do with me? How superficial. You Owadas are truly a pitiful lot."

As he drew closer to the bassinet, Daiya jumped between them. "You leave my brother alone!"

Togami kicked the boy to the side. "Out of the way, peasant." He looked upon the infant prince and sneered. "Is this what all the fuss is about? You chose to defy me to honor _this_ child? I may have understood if it was the eldest, at least. But this child?" His eyes narrowed. "I've _stepped_ in things more worthwhile."

"D-don't talk about him like that!" cried Chihiro. The raven cawed at her harshly for interrupting.

Togami glared back at the king and queen. "Your bloodline has as much value as the life of a common farm boy. If I had my way, I would extinguish it all in a manner just as trivial. But…" He paused thoughtfully. "I will just have to settle for this one, I suppose."

The crown-shaped top of his staff crackled with lightning. The air grew deathly cold and the room went dark, as if the sun itself cowered at his strength.

"This is my gift: before the sun sets on his 16th birthday, he will prick his finger on the splinter of butter churn... and die. Death from a mundane tool, befitting the latest in a long lineage of plebeians who somehow found themselves in regalia."

With that, and before the guards could seize him, Togami vanished before their very eyes. The entire ballroom fell silent.

Not reading the room at all, Leon said after a beat, "Damn, that one sucked. It didn't even rhyme."

"Let's get out of here, guys," muttered the third fairy fretfully, "Occult stuff like that always gives me the heebie-jeebies!"

"Yasuhiro…" whimpered Chihiro.

He ignored her and made a step to leave, but something tugged his coat of star signs. "Hey, what're--?"

He turned to see the furious face of little Daiya. "Ya better fix this, Magicman!"

"Look, kid, my gift isn't gonna help with anything like that. Togami is on a totally different level. M-my hands are tied here, for serious."

The prince stomped his foot and pouted angrily.

"I told you, I can't!"

If it weren't for the dire stakes the whole kingdom had in this conversation, it may have been very amusing to see: an ancient being with abilities beyond human understanding being intimidated by a little boy.

"Come now, with all your foresight, surely you can see some kind of loophole!" Chihiro said with sympathetic tears dripping down her face.

He shook what constituted for his head, sunbeams flinging across the room. "Not no way, not no how! I've screwed with a coven before, and they hit me right back. I'm not doing that again. And bypassing a Togami curse? There's no way!"

"So... what? You're just going to let sleeping dogs lie?"

"I mean… if I don't have to lay a finger on that freaky human witchcraft, then I'd let 'em snooze away, ya know?" His light suddenly brightened. "Wait."

"Ya got something?" asked Leon.

"Yeah… yeah, I think I do…"

"Yer gonna fix my bro?!" Daiya squealed, thrilled.

"Uh, not exactly. Just... gimme a sec, okay?"

Yasuhiro tried to take time mentally rephrasing his spell, but Daiya was dragging him back to baby Mondo and he was surprisingly strong for a six-year-old. He awkwardly stood before the king and queen.

"Hey, uh… great baby shower… I was gonna give him the gift of calm, I get the feeling he'll really need it but… ha..." The flaccid attempt at small talk fell at their feet. He stepped over and kneeled before the doomed child.

_"My gift I waste_

_To alter in haste_

_The deadliness of the prince's fate_

_Eternal sleep is the form it'll take_

_And only with true love's kiss will he wake"_

He glowed with golden light upon the infant and without much pageantry rewrote Mondo's destiny.

The celebration ambled on, but the hearts of the people were heavy and it showed on their faces. As the fairies flew out of the kingdom and into the wilds, they felt it too.

"That poor baby…"

"Yeah, it's not gonna be easy for him, I'll tell ya that. Sucks that I couldn't give him my actual gift..."

"Oh, please. Who needs outside intervention just to chill out? He'll turn out just fine without it, I'm positive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The kingdom names are portmanteaus of French translations of Crazy Diamonds (diamants fous) and Perfect Stone (pierre parfaite)-- which is what the Ishimaru family name basically means-- because the original story is from France and it felt weird for the characters in story to just call them "the Ishimaru kingdom" and "the Owada kingdom".


	2. The Curse, Defied

The king was a proud man. As he taught his sons, he felt projecting strength was one of a ruler's most important tasks. This was the reason why, after the Fairy of Fortune saved Mondo from at least certain death, he made no efforts to prevent the curse. There was no grand burning of the country's butter churns nor ban on baked goods. No, the king did not act, for to acknowledge Togami as a threat to his family was to show weakness. To show weakness was to be weak, and thus unfit to lead. And so, Mondo spent his early years bouncing around the palace as if he wasn't bewitched at all.

Two months following Mondo's birth the Ishimaru heir was born. Though the child turned out to be a boy, King Toranosuke insisted they follow through on their proposal. Thus, Prince Takaaki of Pierrfaite would frequently visit the castle with his son, Prince Kiyotaka. As toddlers in proximity to each other tend to do, they became fast and close-knit friends.

That bond, however, paled in comparison to the brotherhood of Daiya and Mondo. The two adored one another, roughhousing through the halls all day and watching the stars through the tall windows at night. It far exceeded the love they had for even their parents. As the one to inherit the crown, however, the lessons Prince Daiya was forced to attend wedged a rift between the brothers. Mondo was far too young to understand the circumstances and would whine and whine for his sibling's attention. Daiya, whose clearest early memory was that evil sorcerer looming over his brother laying helpless in his crib, felt his heart pang every time he saw Mondo frown. One day, it all came to a head.

"Bro, can we go ridin'? Please?"

He flashed his puppy dog eyes and Daiya couldn't refuse.

"Alright. But don't say nothin' to Mom and Dad, aight? You ain't supposed to leave…"

He nodded vigorously with tight lips.

They snuck to the stables and through great effort mounted one of the horses and fled into the country. Perhaps the only bit of his education Daiya cared for were the horseback riding lessons, and even now on his first ride it was obvious Mondo liked riding, too. He would bask in the wind on his face and gawk at every little thing they passed, much to Daiya's delight. They ran through the village until Daiya spotted a royal guard patrolling the streets.

"Damn, Mom must've noticed that we're gone. She's gonna kill us," he muttered.

He steered his steed down an old dirt path that cut through farmland. "So whatcha think, bro? Where should we hide?"

"Uh…" Mondo thought about the matter hard, then pointed to a barn. "There!"

The horse trotted over and Daiya helped his brother down and they slipped in behind the barn door. Inside the princes were face-to-face with a milk-white dairy cow, stark even in the low light.

"Whoa, he's so big…" Mondo whispered as he looked up at the animal. The cow chewed her cud in silence, unaware that they were even there.

"Cows are girls, dummy," Daiya informed him, giggling.

"Oh." Mondo slunk away, embarrassed by his simple mistake. It amazed Daiya how sensitive Mondo could be about the littlest things. Why did he care so much about something so insignificant?

 _The gift of care_ , a little voice echoed in the back of his mind.

While Daiya was lost in thought, Mondo wandered around the little pen they found themselves in. He kicked at the dirt and straw upon the floor when he spied nearby a strange device, the likes of which he'd never seen before.

"Daiya! Lookit this funny thing!" He tottered towards it, hand outstretched.

Daiya, unlike his brother, knew what the instrument was immediately. Its name had been burned into his brain long before he had an image attached to it, and the moment he saw an image he seared that in as well, in case of circumstances just as these. He dashed over and shoved him away, shouting, "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

In his haste his leg brushed against the churn, which fell to the ground with a harsh clatter. That, combined with his yelling and sudden movement, spooked the cow. She stomped her hooves and mooed and thrashed about, all with the prince right below her. Cowering in the corner of the dark barn, Mondo couldn't see what was happening, but he heard a loud crunch and Daiya shriek in pain.

The farmer came to see what caused the commotion and found Mondo in tears and Daiya bruised and beaten on the floor beneath his heffer. Soon, the guard was called and they were rushed back to the palace.

Daiya was hurried to his bed so he may rest. None bothered to check on the other prince, who was shaken to his core by the accident, mentally scarred at the ripe old age of six.

"What do you think?" the king asked the royal physician.

"He will recover with time, but the injuries to his back are much too great. He will never walk again."

The king and queen were swallowed up with rage. Pointless, impotent rage. The perfect diamond they had cultivated for twelve years had, in their minds, split into shards. Something was to blame for this, something had to be to blame.

Mondo bawled at his brother's bedside. "I'm sorry, 'm sorry, 'm sorry!" was the refrain he howled into the covers.

That would do.

They dragged him out of the room. The king yelled and the queen hit and it changed absolutely nothing. Mondo's suffering did not heal their son, but knowing that did not satiate their bitterness either.

This child. This damned child. From the moment he was free of the womb, he caused them nothing but suffering and shame. Neither wanted anything to do with him anymore, not until the spell was broken and he could do no more harm to the son they actually cared for.

They called upon the fairies. They offered food and drink and even jewels for the three to take away the boy until he was grown. Hiro and Leon tried to raise the bargain, but Chihiro forced them to back down, as there were clearly more pressing matters to attend to. They all reluctantly accepted the offer and flew to find the prince.

In the time the royals met with the fairies, he had snuck back to Daiya's bedside. When they entered, Mondo shot up in alarm at the bizarre beings.

"Hey, buddy..." said Yasuhiro easily as he approached. "Don't be scared, okay? Take it easy. We're gonna go on a little trip, alright?"

"Yeah! Think of it like a vacation!" Leon added, "I mean, after all this traumatic crap, you'll need it…"

"No! I'm not gonna leave 'm!" he cried, gripping the blanket.

"It's alright, Mondo. We promise that no harm will come to you," said Chihiro gently.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" he screamed.

"Yeesh, he's a feisty one," commented Leon, running his fingers through the flames that stood in for hair.

"And who's fault is that?" snipped Hiro back.

"Mm… Mondo…" Daiya croaked weakly.

"Big bro!" He scrambled to the head of the bed so he could hear him. "What is it?"

"P-promise… promise you'll come back, okay? I'm gonna miss you like crazy."

"But I'm not goin'!"

"Ya have to. Ya gotta hide. It's the only way you're... g-gonna be safe." His lips trembled. He was trying so hard not to cry. Despite despising his parents now for the fresh mark on Mondo's cheek, their teachings held him in a death grip. "But… _please…_ promise you'll come back here once it's all over."

He didn't understand. He couldn't understand. But he couldn't refuse, either. His small hand wrapped around Daiya's fingers. "I promise..."

With the pact made, Daiya let himself finally rest as Mondo continued to sob into the sheets. Hiro and Leon gathered a few things while Chihiro conjured a sprig of lavender and held it above the boy's head. The soothing fragrance of the flower was magically enhanced so as to put the prince to sleep. If all went to plan, this would be the only time he would fall under such a spell.

Under the cover of night the fairies whisked him away, but not to the place they were to stay. No, they needed to make a quick stop to visit one of their many mystical ilk.

"Oh! This is quite the surprise!" spoke the Fairy of Fabrication once the three entered her domain. "I thought for sure it would only be characters from the first installment. Though I don't see why out of everyone else, you'd include one as plain as me…"

They didn't understand her most of the time, but they didn't have to. All they needed were her abilities.

"You're the only one who can help us," Chihiro relayed. She gestured to Mondo, snoozing in Leon's warm arms. "We're hiding him to prevent a curse, but he's wild and fiercely loyal to his brother. We worry that he'll run away to look for him, only to end up in an endless slumber. We… need him to forget who he is."

"Ah, I see. So you'd like a new past as well, I assume?"

"Yes."

The Fairy of Fabrication was formed out of thousands of glowing blue threads. This was the form her magic took. She fed a strand of herself into a spinning wheel black as night and spun a new tale of his past:

"A foundling child, raised by three kindly caretakers deep in the woods on the very edge of Diamanfous. Never has he met another soul."

When the thread exited the wheel, it was shimmering silver. The silver strand of false memory lilted over to the sleeping prince and passed through his forehead, weaving itself amongst the nooks and crannies of his brain.

"And you're _sure_ he won't remember his old life?" asked Hiro with worry.

"At least as long as it's narratively convenient," she replied.

Next, she crafted human guises for the trio, which she rambled about with zeal. Donning them, the three newly-minted mortals fled for the abandoned woodcutter's cottage deep in the forest.

"Ugh, why didn't we just wait 'til we got there to put 'em on? Humans are so slow!" Leon complained. He was excited by the change in the first few seconds, but the novelty wore off quickly.

"We can't use our magic so long as we have him," Chihiro reminded him. "Because we're the ones that blessed his birth, Togami will suspect us. We have to live as mortals through and through, even now."

They made it to the cottage. Despite Chihiro's warnings Leon lit the candles in the dark house automatically, though he swore he didn't do so intentionally. He laid Mondo down on the bed upstairs and the three sat there and watched him.

Soon, Chihiro's charm wore off and the young prince stirred. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He opened them and his sleepy gaze landed on the former Fairy of Fortune. In contrast to how he yelled at them an hour ago, his voice was soft. "S'matter, Uncle Hiro? Ya look shook up..." Stinging returned to the mark on his cheek and he winced. "Owie…"

"Uh, you fell down the stairs," Hiro quickly supplied.

Leon worked with the lie. "Yeah, we were worried sick. Ya got kinda beat up."

The baton passed to Chihiro. "But you don't have to worry about it anymore. You'll be safe now and forever and grow up to be a big, strong man."

An older child, perhaps Daiya or even Mondo himself in the future, might have chided her for making a promise she could never hope to keep. But the Mondo of today was naive as could be, even more naive than the boy he was a few hours ago.

He grinned. "You guys're the best."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bruh fuck the Owada parents. all my homies hate the Owada parents.
> 
> also, Tsumugi cameo, I guess? she's kinda just a plot device but. ya know. wouldn't be the first time for her.


	3. An Unusual Prince, Once Upon a Dream

_He moves through the wood he's known all his life, yet it is unfamiliar. Color is drained from the landscape, rendering the trees, grass, and even the sky shades of grey. He does not walk, doesn't feel the tickle of grass on his bare feet. He glides, as if wearing stockings on a marble floor. He nears the bank of a lake, its water dark and deep. He knows what happens next. The reflection of the stranger appears, then he turns to view him in full._

_One boy with beauty rare,_

_Sheen of obsidian in his hair,_

_Eyes that shame the red, red rose,_

_He offers his hand, regal and composed._

_He accepts the stranger's invitation and they dance. He's never danced before, but somehow his movements are flawless. The melody they sway to hums through the trees. Its timbre is warm and smokey and familiar, like an embrace he knew long ago…_

* * *

Mondo awoke with shafts of morning light assaulting his vision from beyond his eyelids. He groaned, tossing himself away from the window. As a grumpy teenager, he hated mornings, but especially when they interrupted his cozy recurring dream. When he found himself unable to slip back into the fantasy, he lifted his head and pulled to his chest the old stuffed dog he had since he was small.

"Well Chuck, I had the dream again, 'bout the guy with the red eyes. That's two weeks in a row." He looked down into the toy's button eyes and thought out loud, "It's gotta mean somethin'..."

He got up, dressed himself, and brushed his chestnut locks and caramel curls before tying them back. He hopped down the steps, immediately seeing two of his guardians in the kitchen area preparing breakfast.

"Morning Aunt Chi, Uncle Hiro!" He jumped down and threw his arms around them, kissing Chihiro on the head.

She blushed. "Oh! Good morning, Mondo!"

"We're making pancakes, if that's cool with you."

"Hell yeah it is," he replied as he made his way to the front door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where ya runnin' off to?" asked Leon from the table, leaning back in his chair.

"Oh, I was just gonna feed Kawasaki an' go out for a morning ride," he answered, pointing his thumb in the direction of the stable.

"Well, what's the rush? She's not going anywhere. You oughta get some food in you first!"

He supposed that he was right and sat in the chair opposite Leon, leaning back even farther than him, his feet on the table.

"How's it holding up?" Leon asked.

Mondo rocked back and forth a little experimentally, the chair squeaking beneath him. "Seems pretty good to me."

Around two years ago, Mondo had taken up carpentry. It was something to do to pass the time, not to mention expel pent-up energy when he went out to cut up more wood for his projects.

"That's good. You used to suck."

"Well, obviously. Then I practiced an' I got better. That's, like, what people do."

"Oh. Yeah. Right, right. That's what people do." He ran his fingers through his red hair and grinned sheepishly.

Mondo rolled his eyes. His caretakers, bless them, were wonderful, but Jesus Christ were they stupid sometimes. Well, except Chihiro. Aunt Chihiro was pretty smart and actually helped him out with his budding interest. She taught him how to tell which trees were sturdy enough for woodworking just by looking at them. On the occasions when she accompanied him on his searches and he chopped one down, she was always impressed. She would compliment him and tell him what a strong young man he became. And, yes, for a lad of 15 his labors shaped him into quite a specimen, but such praise was overwhelming and, frankly, embarrassing. He was hardly anything to ride home about…

Damn, did his mind wander sometimes. There were moments where he wondered if he left his brain in bed still dreaming with how his head flitted from one thing to the next. Maybe he inherited it from Uncle Hiro, somehow, even if he knew they weren't actually blood related.

Yasuhiro and Chihiro finished making the pancakes and they ate together. Mondo put his food away quickly and headed out. When he got on horseback and Kawasaki stood before the cottage, the three poked their heads out the door.

"Have fun, dude!"

"Don't die!"

"And don't talk to strangers!"

"I gotcha!" he called back.

He rode around for a while, just to enjoy the scenery of early summer. The wind on his face, the sun on his skin, the scent of the blooming flowers hitting his nostrils-- this was what he lived for. He loved his caretakers, but that tiny cottage could be stifling. Sometimes, he just needed to roam in these wide open spaces. It was to satisfy a craving that ate away at his insides, the source of which he couldn't quite place.

Maybe it was loneliness. Maybe galloping around out here made him feel like he was actually part of a whole wide world, rather than trapped within four wood-beamed walls. He didn't know exactly, but what he did know was that ever since he was small, he felt an absence. It permeated the air around him and filled his heart with aimless longing. It was as if pieces of him went missing some time ago and these trips through the wood were his attempts to find them. But whatever could those missing pieces be?

"I wonder… I wonder…" he quietly mused.

He came across a fine tree overlooking the lake. He dismounted and told Kawasaki to stay put. She was an intelligent animal, so he knew she would not wander. He removed his axe from the saddlebags and strolled towards the tree. When he approached, he knocked it a few times just to make sure. Yup, good and hardy. He ran his hand along the bark as he walked around towards the side facing the lake, where he planned to chop. He swiftly hopped to that spot and drew his axe back, ready to strike.

He was met with a scream. A very loud scream.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Mondo screamed in kind as he leapt back in alarm. He flung his axe backwards and heard a plunk behind him. Great. He locked eyes with the man beneath him, sitting against the tree. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WHAT AM I DOING HERE?!" he yelled back, just as scared out of his wits, "THIS IS A FOREST, IT'S PUBLIC PROPERTY! I SHOULD ASK _YOU_ THE SAME QUESTION! WHY ARE YOU HERE?! ARE YOU SOME KIND OF ASSASSIN?!"

"What?! No, I'm a woodcutter! I'm doin' my job!"

He relaxed a bit at that, though he was still tense. "Oh. I, uh, apologize for interrupting your labors. But you really shouldn't be swinging such a dangerous instrument around willy-nilly! It could seriously injure someone!"

He rubbed the back of his neck in shame. "Well, you're right about that, but cut me a little slack, man. There's usually nobody else around. So what brings ya out here, anyway?"

He bristled. "I just wanted a quiet spot to read."

"Oh. Sorry." At first he was pissed off, but now he was starting to feel bad for the guy.

"It was an honest mistake, I don't mind." He assured him, glancing to the ground. Then, his gaze snagged on the lake behind Mondo, and he abruptly changed the subject. "Your axe. It fell in the water!"

"Uh, yeah. I'm aware."

"I'll go fetch it for you!"

"What? No. Ya don't hafta--"

He cut Mondo off. "If I knew I cost someone their means of livelihood, I would never sleep soundly again! Please, allow me!"

He didn't even wait for a response, he just zipped past and dove in. A part of Mondo expected him to surface carrying one made of solid gold with how surreal this all was. It was in the silence as he waited for his return that Mondo realized that he broke his promise to his guardians: he talked to a stranger. Guilt rose up inside him like a cloud of black smoke, making it tricky to breathe. He broke a promise. He _broke_ a _promise_. He was a terrible person who shouldn't even be out here. Chihiro and the others should never trust him ever again. He…

The guy burst out of the water and started walking towards him. It was here and now, not obstructed by his own shadow, that Mondo could really take him in completely: one boy with beauty rare, sheen of obsidian in his hair, eyes that shame the red, red rose…

"Are you alright?" he asked, now right in front of him.

"HOLY SHIT! YOU'RE MY DREAM GUY!" Mondo yelled directly into his face.

He was at a loss. "I-- er-- uh-- thank… you?"

"SHIT! THAT CAME OUT WEIRD! I-- UGH!" He flopped his head down in defeat, clenching his teeth and fists. "Why is it so hard to talk to you?!" he growled to himself, before taking a deep breath and trying again. "Look, what I mean to say is… I've been havin' these dreams for a while now where I meet this prince-lookin' guy by a lake and we dance around and shit. And this feels really weird to say, but you look exactly like him. Well, except the clothes."

The dashing man of his visions wore regalia, a cape and epaulets and medals of honor, but this person was comparatively modest. They both still wore mostly white and black boots, however.

"A prince? I look like a prince? Wh-where would you get that idea?" He couldn't hide how flustered the comment made him. He was visibly sweating.

"It's nothing, it's just… that's what the guy in my dreams is dressed like."

"Ah."

They both fell silent. Mondo took his axe back, finally. He whistled for Kawasaki and returned it to the saddlebag.

"Ya know, I really oughta get going. I'm not s'posed to speak to strangers, ya know."

He put one foot in the stirrup, ready to mount, but the other spoke again.

"But we're not strangers. We've met before."

Mondo tilted his head. "We have?"

He beamed. "Yes, it's just as you said: once upon a dream. So, since we're already acquainted, you can feel free to talk as much as you want!"

He grinned back. "You cheeky son of a bitch. I like you." Despite that, he still mounted his horse. "Can ya come back to talk with me tomorrow? Same place, same time?"

"I would be delighted! It's a date!"

"Hell yeah! See you then!" He was about to snap down on the reins, but he stopped himself. "By the way, what's yer name? I feel weird thinkin' of you as just 'that prince-lookin' guy' if you don't like it…"

He hesitated for a moment. "It's… Kiyotaka. But you can just call me Taka, if you'd prefer."

"Taka. Right. Got it!" He shot him a thumbs up before riding off. When he got back home, he told his guardians nothing of the boy he met in the woods. Why would he? He didn't want to worry them, after all. If worse came to worst, he could defend himself just fine. Besides, it's not like what they didn't know would hurt them any...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imagine if you first met your future husband by him brandishing an axe at you


	4. Seldom All They Seem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> upfront warning: near the end of this chapter Mondo has a nightmare which includes gore. If you would prefer to skip that, the dream sequence is the part in italics separated via line breaks. idk if I should boost the rating just for that but it's a pretty isolated incident in this fic so I'm not sure.

Togami's relations with Toko Fukawa were… interesting to unpack. Many years ago, she had been a young witch, speed tracked by her circumstances and personality into becoming a hermit. She lived in a smelly bog and slaved day and night over writing spell books, and she admired him more than anything. She took great interest in joining his coven. Too much interest for his liking. She would stand at the gates of Togami Manor and just… stare. He would see her out there from his windows, and whenever he got anywhere near his front door she was gone. Something about that frightened him deep down, it made him think that beneath her unassuming exterior lay something much more sinister. And he was right.

She broke in. She was so quiet, unnoticeable, that she actually managed to surprise him when she appeared in his chambers. She begged and pleaded for him to let her serve him, to give someone of her lowliness some sort of purpose. It was disgusting. He couldn't stomach looking at her grovel, so he laid a spell on her right there. He turned her into a raven, a creature looked upon by most as hideous and an ill omen, thinking she would take a hint. It only made her pursuit more intense, now that she could fly and perch herself on his windowsill and watch as he slept. He gave in. She became his, no matter his feelings about it.

Despite himself, the wicked sorcerer found himself… bonded, in a fashion. But it was not the bond one would have with a person or even a pet, it was a sort of sentiment one has for a well-worn tool. She was useful to him, and in his frostbitten heart, that was high praise. For you see, with her reserved demeanor, swift flight, endless loyalty to her master, and disregard for personal boundaries, she made an excellent spy.

The search for the lost Owada prince had been fruitless for nine, now nearly ten years. Togami was beginning to despair that his prophecy may never be fulfilled. That was, until Toko noticed in her flights across the countryside the refugee prince of the Ishimarus frequenting the woods. That made Togami's ears perk. My, my, it was so close to the prince's wedding day. One may understand, in all his eagerness to marry and restore his family's status, that he may visit his groom in his forest hideaway, face ablush and giddy with young love.

He gave her a piercing stare as he held the hand she stood upon out his door. "Follow him. Report to me everything you can find. Remember, tomorrow is our last chance. Go."

She took wing and glided along the path to the woods, where Prince Kiyotaka walked. Indeed, as Togami had envisioned him, he was the picture of a blissful spouse-to-be. He skipped along in a happy haze, letting his feet guide him (and unknowingly Toko) to their regular meeting spot by the lake. Mondo soon arrived, pulling something long wrapped up in paper out of Kawasaki's saddlebag.

He poked his head out from behind the tree. "Yo, Taka!"

"Hello!" He glanced at the object in his hands. "What do you have there?"

"I made you a lil' somethin'!"

He blushed. "Oh, you didn't have to do that…"

"Shattup." He shoved it into his hands. "Ya deserve it!"

Kiyotaka unwrapped the gift, and was met with a brand new bokken. He stared at it with jaw hanging.

"Ya said last time that ya wished you had something with more heft when you were doin' that kendo thing, so it was more like a real sword."

He looked up, eyes watering. "Bro! This is so sweet!"

His face turned red. "Oh, Jesus. Ya don't gotta say all that, man. It's not like I have much else to do with my spare time…"

"Come now, don't sell yourself short! This is wonderful!"

"It's the least I could do. Talkin' with you this past week, it's the best I've felt in a while." Mondo twisted a loose lock of hair around his finger. "Ya… ya know… ever since I was little, I knew there was somethin' missing in my life. It was like… bits a' me were ripped away, an' I was sittin' there bleedin' for 15 years. An' I thought I just wanted a brother or something but… when I'm with you… it's like I'm back. I'm almost whole again. That… that sounds cheesy as shit, but it's the only way I can make sense of it."

He gazed down at his bokken, having turned it vertical, rubbing his thumb along its top. His smile faded and his brow wrinkled. "It's strange. I feel the same way. I've been so lonely for so long, especially these past few years. You're the first person I've ever connected with outside of my family, and logically I know it's not true, but it feels as if I've known you just as long…"

A pregnant pause.

"I... would like to spend the rest of my life with you..." It wasn't really a proposal, it was a statement of fact, and he seemed almost troubled by it.

"Damn, don't scream it from the rooftops or anythin'..." he grumbled at his lack of enthusiasm.

He shot up to attention. "I--! I don't mean it like that! It's just that I'm worried about what my family may think!"

"I mean, if you're refugees from some war-torn country, I'd think anything would be appreciated…"

"Well, yes, but… uh..." He wanted to admit the truth, his whole truth: that he was a prince of a kingdom in the throws of political upheaval, and to preserve his family's prestige he was forced by royal duty to marry a man who he hardly remembered, but apparently he met before.

He placed his hand on his shoulder. "Look, bro, I get it. It's scary as hell to admit you've been doin' this sorta thing to yer folks, even when they're as chill as chill can be. I mean, look at me, I'm fuckin' terrified."

"Wait… do you mean that you're…"

He glanced off bashfully. "Uh, yeah. I... want you to meet 'em. I'll admit it, part of the reason for givin' the gift was me tryin' to butter you up..."

"You sly dog!" He shoved him and barked out a laugh.

He smirked and shoved him back. He was happy they were back to a lighter mood.

"Yup, my birthday party's tomorrow, an' I want you to be the guest of honor!"

Kiyotaka gasped, "Your birthday is  _ tomorrow _ and you're giving  _ me _ a present?! Why didn't you tell me?! I would have brought you something!"

He threw his arm around him. "C'mon bro, you showin' up would be present enough!"

"This is entrapment, isn't it? Giving something so I have to repay you?" He half-joked, "You're using my chivalry against me!"

"Yup!" He squeezed him tight in his arms and teased, "Ya ain't never gonna get away from me!" He reached down to Taka's side and tickled him, to which the latter writhed and hooted with laughter.

"Stop it! Stop it!" He cried, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

He relented. "So, ya comin'?"

Kiyotaka took a moment to breathe, to think. Would he really forsake the plan set out for him since birth? Was he willing to preserve a royal bloodline that ruled simply because that was the way it had always been? A bloodline that put his tyrant of a grandfather in power, whose policies sparked the revolution that tore Pierrfaite apart? He… he wanted his family to have honor, but...

His features hardened. "Yes. Yes, I… I think I will."

Mondo let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank Christ! I thought I was gonna hafta do this shit alone!"

His bushy brows quirked. "If you don't mind me asking… Why is it that you're so cautious? Your caretakers seem like lovely people."

"They are, it's just…" He balled his fists. "...to Aunt Chi, Uncle Hiro, and Uncle Leon, I'm just this… little kid. I'm this… fragile thing they gotta protect, like a flower or somethin'. An' I get that. I mean, they found me abandoned in the woods as a fuckin' baby, of course they'd be protective. They try to act all casual 'bout it, Chi tells me I'm strong and shit, but I know it's all lies." He snorted. "It drives me up a fuckin' wall. Up 'til now, I didn't have the balls to say anything about it. I didn't wanna hurt their feelings when they're just tryna do me right." The tension in his closed hands slackened. "I felt... like it was all gonna blow up in my face, somehow. Still do. But I think if you're there, it'll make it easier."

"I see. I will indeed make a point to come, then. Where do you live, bro?"

"It's a little cottage in the glen. Jus' keep goin' straight thataway." He pointed in its direction. "Ya can't miss it."

Taka placed his hands on his hips and puffed his chest. "I shall be there!" He declared.

After giggling at him and calling him a dork, Mondo mounted his horse and trotted away. Taka watched him go with a fond smile, which wavered slightly as he thought of the promise he made and the one he would have to break to keep it. Toko, meanwhile, followed the mysterious woodcutter to his home, roosting in a tree's lower bows and peeking through a window.

When Mondo opened the door, there was a flurry of movement from his three guardians. Leon and Yasuhiro pressed themselves against the broom closet, trying to prevent a cascade of  _ something _ from falling out. Chihiro, who stood in the center of the room, whirled around. "Mondo!" she squeaked nervously.

"Hey guys. Whatcha doin'?" That was merely a formality. Mondo could see a set of shears, scraps of fabric, and spools of thread laying around haphazardly on the floor, so he could venture a guess as to what they were working on and currently hiding.

"Oh, just… umm… tidying up." She took the broom and started sweeping a random spot.

"Oh, right, gotcha…" he said with a sly smile, pretending he didn't catch on. "We got anything to eat?"

"There's a kettle of soup by the fire. Careful, it's hot."

"It's over a fire, no duh it's hot…" said Leon with an eye roll.

Mondo ignored him. "Thanks, Aunt Chi." He went to the kitchen area to get a bowl and spoon, spying ingredients laid out for what would probably soon be a very large cake. He smirked. Damn, these three were not slick at all. They probably couldn't keep a secret to save their lives. It made him feel all the worse for keeping this secret from them. As he went about fixing himself a bowl and eating, that guilt ate at him. Yasuhiro, Chihiro, Leon, they were simple, trusting people. And this was how he was repaying their trust after 16 years, revealing that he has a secret boyfriend? Maybe he shouldn't go through with this, maybe he should leave a note at the meeting spot telling Taka not to come, maybe…

Ugh.

Maybe he should worry about it in the morning.

He tossed his bowl and spoon in with the rest of the dirty dishes. "Welp, I'm gonna hit the sack. I got a big day tomorrow."

"That you do," Uncle Hiro agreed.

He ascended the stairs. "Night, guys."

"G'night!" they said simultaneously.

Once his door was shut, Yasuhiro sprang away from his place against the broom closet. "Woo! Looks like we're in the clear! He doesn't suspect a thing!"

"He clearly d--" Leon started, before the door fell open and mounds of fabric buried him.

"Oh, Leon! Let me help!" Chihiro rushed over and gathered as much as she could in her arms. The present they made, a regal coat that was meant to be ankle length, seemed to go on for miles and miles. Chihiro tried to peek over the bundle of cloth. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but the coat sure as hell isn't." He picked up one of the absurdly long sleeves, rubbing his thumb against the visible stitches. "This thing looks like crap!"

Hiro placed his hand on his chin. "Mm, it could use a little tweaking. I was thinking we could cut a little off the top… and the bottom… and the sides…"

Leon snorted like a bull, irate. "No, we're  _ not _ doing that. He's a  _ prince _ , he shouldn't wear  _ garbage _ ! This is the last time we'll have him all to ourselves, we gotta make it count! We're using our friggin' magic like any sane fairy would!"

"But Leon, we're so close! We just need to hold out a little longer!"

"Exactly! We're right there, Chi, less than a day away! We're practically home free! So let's do it!"

"I… I don't know…"

Hiro shrugged. "We've kept the lid on for nearly ten years now. Maybe it's time to cut loose."

She gave in. "Fine. But we have to shut the windows and block up every crack and cranny. We can't risk someone seeing it and learning our whereabouts."

They all did so, but Leon was remiss to take it too seriously. He laughed through his teeth. "Psht! What'll see it, a squirrel? Some bird?" He shut the window Toko was looking through.

Hmph. No matter. She had all the information she needed.

Once the three finished obstructing openings, they got to work. Leon balled up the bits of trash on the floor and set them ablaze, chucking the fireballs into the fireplace. Chihiro automated creepers of ivy to do prep work for the cake she would bake in the morning. Upon Yasuhiro touching them, trains of black cloth and golden thread came to life and crafted themselves into the form they were destined to take. Leon saw the coat assembling itself from the corner of his eye and frowned. He poked a stray strand floating in the air and a spark traveled along it like a lit fuse. Once it reached the coat itself flames spread across it in a puff, only to extinguish just as soon. The coat was now white with red-orange embroidery of flames.

Hiro looked offended. "Dude."

"The color was, like, half the problem. Now it looks super cool to the max!"

"You do remember that he's a prince, right? That he's supposed to look at least a little high-class?"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" yapped Leon in his predominantly white clothes.

"N-nothing! Look, I don't make fashion rules! It's just that black dye is hard to make, so it's more expensive, so that makes it classy! That's what the lady at the market said, anyway..."

He touched the coat and it changed back to black and gold.

"White is plenty classy! It stains easily so when you wear it you let people know you don't work for a living!"

_ Foom! _ White and orange.

Sweat beaded on Yasuhiro's brow and he pushed back some of his dreads. "Hey, c'mon, I spent  _ a lot _ on that black fabric. For serious."

_ Tap. _ Black and gold.

"It's not  _ my _ problem you're stupid with money!"

White and orange.

"That's a low blow, man! You try living as a force of nature for hundreds of years and then picking up human behavior in only ten!"

Black and gold.

"I literally did!"

The tit-for-tat escalated with the coat pulsing one way or another until Chihiro finally got between them. "You guys! We shouldn't fight! This is supposed to be a day of happiness!"

"You're right…" Hiro admitted.

Leon crossed his arms and pouted, but he still nodded in agreement. With some of his tension out, he soon verbalized a concern that plagued him. "So, uh, are any of you guys worried that we're going about this the wrong way?"

Hiro changed the coat back to its original colors. "Like how?"

"I dunno, just like, springing it on him like this." He itched his goatee. "This is a  _ huge _ change. I mean, I'm used to flickering from one thing to the next and even  _ I'm _ still not fully used to  _ this _ ." He gestured to himself. "What I'm saying is, even if we give him a day, I'm imagining he won't take it well."

Chihiro held out hope. "I think he will. He's grown into a man as sturdy as his furniture. I'm sure we won't knock the wind out of him."

Meanwhile, on the floor above them, Mondo tossed and turned in his bed. A tempest of horrible images and sounds swirled about his head.

* * *

_ A giant and a giantess scream down at him. Their words are garbled but the guilt they inflict cut deep across his chest and belly, making his insides spill. _

**_Dirty, filthy child,_ ** _ he hears from the aether. _ **_Look at what you've done. This is what you get for straying._ **

_ He pulls at the pile of guts, a spot of headache-inducing hot pink against the monochrome backdrop, trying to stuff them back inside. The world around him grows darker and darker. _

_ A thunderous sound, like drums of war pounding within his skull. A horrific crunch. An ear-splitting and heart-shattering screech. _

_ He looks around, but it is so dark, he can't tell where the noise came from. He cradles the gore in his arms like a babe. It is warm and trembles with breath and pulse and life of its own. He is not sure what it is anymore. Perhaps it is his missing piece. _

**_You did this. You. You were a blight ever since you were young._ **

_ His body begs for release. Tears threaten to fall. _

**_Stop fishing for pity. It makes you look weak._ **

_ What did he do? What crime had he committed that was worthy of this punishment? He couldn't understand. He just couldn't understand. _

_ He hugs his flesh and blood. He weeps, even outside the nightmare. _

_ Then, another voice sounded, one with a familiar vibration. That rich, mature timbre that haunted his good dreams as well. _

**_"Promise you'll come back…"_ **

* * *

Ironic how the sleep before the fated deepest slumber of his days would be his least restful...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me after barfing out that unplanned heavy-ass nightmare sequence in my relatively fluffy Disney-inspired fic: did everyone else try the chicken I thought the chicken was lovely
> 
> also it's been a rough week but while writing this chapter I realized that Mondo canonically has two tokkō-fuku, his black and gold one that he wears in the game and a white and red-orange one that he wears in flashbacks/his illustration, and that those colors just happen to correspond with Yasuhiro and Leon respectively (Hiro's black jacket and pants and goldenrod shirt and Leon's white shirt and jacket and ginger hair), so yes I could in fact reference the "make it blue/make it pink" scene, which made me unreasonably giddy


	5. A Secret Revealed

Mondo awoke clutching Chuck tight to his chest, dried trails of tears streaking down his cheeks. He gasped for air, searching the ceiling beams with wide eyes. The... ceiling. His bedroom's ceiling. Right, right. He was home. He just had a weird nightmare. A _really_ weird nightmare.

"What… the… fuck…" he rasped.

The giants, the gore, those horrible sounds, that voice…

Maybe it was just something his subconscious cooked up from his guilt, but that explanation didn't completely add up. The elements were nothing his mind had ever created before, yet they were so intimate and raw. It felt like a pure abstraction of a memory. A terrible, terrible memory that he logically shouldn't have. He didn't have those monstrous parents, he had three caretakers who loved him very much, who would never say the cruel words that still buzzed in his skull. Those sounds and that scream, they shouldn't have felt so sickeningly familiar. And that promise…

"Promise you'll come back…" he echoed. The way he spoke it, the way his recline made it come out his throat weak and croaky, that was how it had actually been. Not the solid tone he heard in the fantasy.

"Wait… how it'd been… when?" It was as if his soul knew something his brain did not.

In a confused haze, he drifted through his morning routine. It was odd, so very odd. He felt as if he wasn't himself anymore, that he was a passenger in another's body as they dolled themselves up. He walked down the stairs with slow, deliberate steps.

"Happy birthday, man!" greeted Leon from the bottom floor

Oh, right. Today was his birthday. His 16th birthday. He almost forgot.

"Hey…"

Hiro poked his head into view and pouted. "Are you doing okay?"

Mondo rubbed his face. "Mm, yeah. I'm fine. I jus'... had a rough night's sleep."

"Aw, that sucks. But hey, it's your birthday! That means you can kick back for a bit. Maybe you can catch a few Z's before Chihiro finishes the cake!"

"But not too many!" Leon said with a wink. For some reason, Hiro shot him a glare. Leon responded with a miffed "What? I told him _not_ to!" It was a bizarre exchange in Mondo's eyes, because they both were very pro-napping, so he didn't see why either would want to limit it. He passed them both by and flopped into a chair.

He tried to let himself doze, but Chihiro was pulling the freshly baked cake out of the oven and its sweet smell snaked its way into his nose. He ambled over. As she frosted the cake, he dragged his finger across the top, building up a dollop of buttercream on his fingertip which he quickly popped into his mouth.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, not scolding and more just surprised.

He drew it out and beamed. "Just testin' it out."

"Oh, is it good?"

"Why do you need me to tell ya? You made it! Of course it's good!"

She blushed from the praise.

"An' it's buttercream so like… yeah, it's good." He stuck the finger back in his mouth, sucking off the remaining frosting. He savored the sweetness as it danced along his tongue.

Buttercream icing was a rare treat. They could only buy butter and other foodstuffs from the market all the way in town, so they usually only got enough to get by in baking and cooking, not to make something so indulgent. But his birthday was not a usual day, so his three guardians always took the chance to spoil their darling.

Come to think of it, that was odd, too. With all the space they had out in the wilderness, they could probably raise some livestock, perhaps a flock of chickens and a cow. Were Uncle Hiro and Uncle Leon such lazy bums that they couldn't gather eggs and milk and churn butter every once in a while? Hell, if that was the only reason, he'd do it himself…

"Mondo, are you alright?" Aunt Chihiro's voice snapped him out of his train of thought.

"Uh... yeah, yeah. Just spacey today, I guess."

"Okay. Well, I'm done with the cake, we've got to let it cool for a bit." She handed him a spoon and a spatula, the former caked in batter and the latter in frosting. He understood his very important task without any words exchanged.

He sat down and started licking. He didn't know what was the matter with him. That dream must've put him in a quizzical mood.

"Heya bastard!" said Leon with an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "Do you wanna open your gift while we wait?"

"Hell yeah."

Yasuhiro took something wrapped in paper and string out of the closet and set it down at the table before Mondo. He put down the cleaned utensils and snapped the string with bare hands, not even bothering with the knot. He tore away the tissue paper and was met with black and gold and purple. As he stood up to unfold the garment, Chihiro bustled over and the trio gathered around him.

It was a long, fine coat, its insides lined with purple satin. A complex design of a dragon and flames was embroidered with golden thread all along the right side, along with what looked like some family crest on the back.

"Shit…" he mumbled, taken aback by the magnificence of the gift. It looked expertly crafted and extremely expensive. "Are you guys sure this is for me…?"

"Don't be stupid! No shit it's for you, it's your birthday!"

"But it's so... fancy… when am I even gonna wear it?"

"Trust me, dude, you'll get plenty of opportunities to wear it, no doubt about it! I guarantee!" Hiro proclaimed.

Mondo rolled his eyes. "Yeah. An' you also said it wasn't gonna rain on my birthday…" He pointed his thumb towards one of the windows, the sky gray.

"Hmph. Well." He rubbed the underside of his nose and sniffled awkwardly. "This one's accurate, I swear."

Disregarding that flimsy reasoning, Chihiro suggested to Mondo, "Why don't you try it on?"

He did so, and it was so warm and comfortable he felt he might melt inside it.

"Hot damn, it feels amazing… hell, I don't deserve this..."

"Of course you do!" piped Chihiro, "You're a…!" Her brain caught up with her mouth and she quieted herself, then said, "Well, let's discuss that over dessert..."

She signaled to Hiro, who started setting down plates. Four plates. Mondo's eyes sparked with remembrance.

"Wait! We can't start eating yet! The guest hasn't arrived!"

They all froze.

"The… guest?" echoed Yasuhiro.

Mondo was frozen, too, eyes wide. Well, there was no turning back now. He gulped. "Uh, yeah. I, uh, I met this guy…"

Said Leon, "Where…?"

"Well, er, in my dreams at first, but then I met him in real life by the lake last week. A-and I know I promised I wouldn't talk to strangers, but I already knew 'm from those dreams, so he wasn't a stranger, if ya catch my drift…"

Leon's mouth hung open while Chihiro hid hers behind her hands. Yasuhiro seemed ponderous, cradling his chin in his hand and eyes boring holes into the table.

"Oh, Mondo…" Chihiro whimpered.

"Aunt Chi, don't worry! He's a really sweet guy! A little, uh--" He recalled Taka jumping into a cold lake with such fervor to aid a boy he just met. "--intense, but he means well! You'll love 'm! I invited him over today!"

"Oh no, we can't let anyone in!"

"What, why not?"

"Because you're super cursed, stupid!" Leon confessed, too agitated to avoid it anymore. "Not to mention, you're already engaged!"

The air hung silent.

"Huh…? To… who…?"

Chihiro clasped her hands, as if praying for him to understand. "A prince, Mondo. The last of the Ishimaru dynasty and the heir apparent to the kingdom of Pierrfaite. Or, at least, what's left of it."

The teen was reeling. He raised his hands, his fingers curling as if he was trying to grasp for some last bit of sanity in the air. "This… this has gotta be some sorta joke, right? A prince?! How could I marry a _goddamn_ prince?! I'm an orphan woodcutter who lives in the fuckin' boonies!"

"It's… not a total lie…" Hiro croaked, the first time he spoke after the bomb dropped. "You are an orphan, and you were abandoned by your folks so you could live here. But it wasn't when you were a baby, and they weren't dead then, and we knew exactly who they were. Your parents were the old king and queen. The king now, he's your brother."

 _Brother._ The word pierced his heart like an arrow. That was what he was missing, what he longed to have for so long. A brother.

"Daiya…" he mumbled.

Images and sensations long forgotten surged through his mind. A phantom squeezed his hand, filling him with admiration. Admiration and inexplicable guilt.

He struggled to get words out against the tightening of his chest. "What… what happened…? Why am I not there beside him? Why didn't I remember?"

"See, not too long after you were born, a sorcerer laid a wicked spell on you. When you were six, it caused an accident, and your brother was badly hurt. That's why the king can't walk."

The nightmare came flooding back to him, this time with brutal clarity. Those parents looked like titans in his mind's eye because he was only six years old at the time, and those words were theirs, etched deep in his subconscious. The drums of war were the stamping of hooves and the crack was Daiya's spine breaking.

Leon continued, "...So your mom and dad decided it would be... safer... if you stayed here until the spell broke at sundown today. That's why we can't let anyone in, or you out. And you forgot because…"

"...because we had to make you forget," Chihiro finished regretfully, "or else you might…"

"Hurt someone else, huh?" His hand clenched into a tight fist. "Is that it? Is that it, Chihiro?! Is THAT what you wanna say?! WAS I TOO MUCH OF A BURDEN FOR MY OWN FUCKIN' PARENTS?!" Mondo shouted, the panic and anger within him reaching a fever pitch.

"Hey, hey, it's chill, keep it chill…" Yasuhiro attempted to soothe him.

"SHUT YER GODDAMN MOUTH AND STOP TREATING ME LIKE A KID! I'M NOT A KID! I'M A MAN NOW! D'YA HEAR THAT?!" He punched the tabletop repeatedly. "A MAN! A MAN, MAN, MAN!"

Leon smiled wide, trying to mask his evident fear. "H-hey, we get it, it's a lot to take in…"

"OH, IT'S A LOT, HUH?! SO YOU THINK IT'S TOO MUCH FOR ME?! IS THAT WHAT YOU GUYS THOUGHT ALL ALONG?! THAT I'M SOME WEAK LITTLE BITCH YOU GOTTA TIPTOE AROUND?!"

"No, that's not--"

He screamed over Chihiro, "AM I A BURDEN TO YOU, TOO?!"

Mondo stood there, his breath labored, his face a deep red. His large frame trembled. They all stared and Chihiro wept. His heart splintered at the sight.

"P-piece 'a _shit!"_ he sputtered, slamming his chair to the floor. Unlike his emotional state, it held firm. His gaze fixed on it for a moment, then he fled, stomping up the stairs.

A long, uncomfortable silence permeated the air after he left.

Yasuhiro shrugged. "Welp… that went better than what I foresaw…"

" _That_ was the _good_ version?!" Leon exclaimed.

As the rain pounded against the roof, Mondo paced his bedroom floor. His hair fell out of its tie in his frantic steps. He threw himself onto his bed, hunched on his knees with his head against the headboard, glaring daggers into his pillow.

He knew it now. Everything. That he was living a lie, that he hurt or disappointed nearly everyone he's ever known, that there was a nation's worth of people out there waiting for him with baited breath just to hook him up with some snooty foreign prince.

And… that he made a promise. A promise to his brother, his flesh and blood, the king of Diamanfous. No matter how worthless he felt or how doomed he was by fate, he had to honor that promise, as was his charge and royal duty…

* * *

Chihiro crept up the stairs, carrying a slice of cake on a plate. The three had given him a few hours to cool down, and decided the small sprite would be the best to coax him out of hiding.

"Mondo, I have dessert…"

She waited, but there was no reply. She knocked. Nothing. Worried, she twisted the knob and opened the door.

The window hung open, its sill soaked with rainwater. Wind huffed in from the outside world. She rushed over and stuck her head out and saw the mud below warped from the impact of his feet. She ran to the others and they flooded out the cottage door, only to find Kawasaki missing as well, fresh tracks scattered through the muck.

He was gone. Their precious prince had vanished in the rainstorm, with less than an hour until sundown. He was at the mercy of Togami's hand, and they couldn't help but feel it was all their fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mondo: **IT'S A MENTAL BREAKDOWN** _*off-key kazoo*_


	6. Skumps! (The Royal Armistice)

_Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_

Prince Kiyotaka had been pounding away at the training dummy for a while now. He had been hard at work ever since morning, practicing with his new bokken, but now it had devolved into formless bashing. His teeth gritted and he grunted with every blow.

The prince's brain was stormy, as stormy as the sky above him. Rain pelted down upon him as he toiled on the castle training grounds. Within him, Taka's heart was tugged in two directions-- passion for his fledgling romance and passion for his duty-- and he felt it may burst from the strain.

He had studied so hard to become the best ruler he could. For almost all his youth, he poured over every entry in their old palace's library on political theory, history, geography, mathematics and science and literature, and strategy for war if the need arose. He shaped himself into a polymath for the express purpose of leading his people into a brighter tomorrow.

And yet, a sizable part of him wished to waste all that effort. He pined for a commoner, one who toiled day by day with his axe and carving knife, chisel and gouge, and hammer and nails. A person who created such beautiful, resilient pieces as the wooden sword he welded with his own two hands. What a noble profession. He wished he could have that, something that he crafted with all his soul and could drum his fingers against and think that it was undeniably _his_. But that was not the world he lived in. His was one of stores of wealth and property soaked in centuries-old blood. It made him sick.

His grandfather back in the old country… he stole from people just like the woodcutter. He taxed and taxed and the rabble of Pierrfaite saw no returns. He hoarded the gold like a dragon, hugging it tight to his belly. The people took up arms. They became the heroic knights off to slay the beast that plagued their lands, like the ones in the fairy tales he read when he was small. Only this wasn't a romantic fable. Taka could still picture the pink streak of blood smeared along the white marble floor of the old palace. His father had blocked his vision as well as he could when they escaped the mob, but that glimpse filled his young mind with horrors all the same.

As Kiyotaka grew, he found himself thinking about how he might act in their shoes. It was wrong, what his grandfather had done. Morally wrong. How could he claim to have the nation's interest at heart then proceed to line his pockets? It dawned on him that he would right that injustice in any way he could, and those people were willing to right it at the cost of their lives.

It made him feel like such a weakling, such a cowardly parasite! He wanted to lead, he wanted to help people prosper as their best selves, but he was shunted into a position to exploit them instead. And now, he would be wed to the last of the Owadas to propagate his dynasty in a new land, like a weed in Diamanfous' soil, as stated in an agreement forged by ghosts before his birth. And he was too afraid to say anything!

"Son…"

_Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_

"Son."

_Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_

"Son!"

Kiyotaka turned around to see his father standing between the columns that bordered the courtyard, just beyond the reach of the rain.

"Yes, father?"

"What are you doing, practicing swordplay in the middle of a storm? You're soaked to the bone…"

Taka looked down at himself and found that to be an accurate assessment.

"Ah… my apologies for worrying you. I must have been too… into it to realize."

He huffed at his silly, overachieving boy, then waved him over. "Come. You'll catch your death out there."

He obeyed and the pair walked together through Diamanfous castle.

"Lucky for you, the maids just finished pressing your vestments for the wedding. You can slip out of those wet clothes right away, and we can make sure it all fits properly."

His gaze fell to the floor. The party he was invited to and the person who it honored buzzed in the back of his mind. He said in a soft voice, "Father…"

"Hm? What's troubling you?"

"H-how did you know something was troubling me?!" he cried out.

"You are never that quiet unless there's something on your mind."

"Oh." Was he that easy to read?

"What is it?"

He talked methodically, "Well, I… I was thinking… about a... a hypothetical…"

"Go on…"

"What if I… didn't want to marry the prince? What if I wanted to marry someone else? What would you do?"

The king in title only stroked his stubble thoughtfully. "Well, if such a thing came to pass, I think I would have many questions for you, Kiyotaka. Such as, where did such sudden dissent come from? You never expressed doubts about the union before, so it would be foolish to get cold feet now. And my other question would be, who would you want to marry instead? Due to our circumstances, you don't have many companions-- or, well, any. Who won my bright young boy's noble heart?"

There was something light-hearted to his tone, as if he thought they were playing a game. And he did. With his son becoming a man right before his eyes, perhaps an inner desire to cling to the idea of his boy blinded him to the possibility that he was serious, or even it was his stated reasoning that it was illogical. Kiyotaka didn't pick up on it, nor did his father pick up on his earnestness.

"A… a woodcutter, father. A woodcutter won my heart. I met him in the forest. He's… unrefined, but the soul within him is tenacious and kind," Taka answered.

"A woodcutter?" He balked, "You dream up the strangest things, Taka! Of everything to pick…"

Kiyotaka felt his heart splinter. Despite trying to contain himself, a shadow crossed his features. "Ah. Yes. Myself, a prince, in love with a rough-and-tumble woodcutter. How... silly. I have responsibilities, after all! Haha…"

He could see the distress blooming on his child's face. "Taka…? Are you…?"

"I'll go get changed now." He briskly surged ahead, not giving his father even a backward glance. It was so he couldn't see him start to cry.

King Takaaki stared in the direction Prince Kiyotaka fled long after he was gone. That… may not have been a brain teaser or mental exercise at all. That… may have been a genuine confession. But how could it be so? Kiyotaka spent his entire life preparing to take the crown with vigor, and now he wants to throw it away? It didn't make sense!

But… he was so upset… what else could it be?

But…

He… shouldn't make any assumptions anymore. Apparently, the one he just made worsened Kiyotaka's mood. His boy was the only person he had, he didn't want to hurt him in any way. So, the king tossed the ball to the prince's court.

Kiyotaka got dressed in his uniform of all white, with its medals and epaulets and red sash that ran from shoulder to hip. He thought about what his darling had said that first day, about him looking like a prince in his dreams. He wondered how he would feel if he arrived at the party like this. Would he be starstruck? Confused? Angry about him concealing his identity? Or would he think it was some sort of elaborate joke?

He would find out. He was determined to see him. As soon as he was finished, he rushed out of his room. Unfortunately, he ran directly into someone, perhaps the worst someone to plow into when you're staying as a guest in another kingdom's castle.

When he gathered his bearings, he stood with feet together and bowed. "My sincerest apologies, Your Majesty! Please, punish me however you see fit!"

King Daiya wheeled so he could face him. "Oh, you're bein' melodramatic. Just knocked me a little off course, is all."

He couldn't understand how laid-back His Highness was. His grandfather had executed people for far lesser offenses.

"You're lucky Takemichi wasn't here, he woulda chewed you out." He chuckled, thinking about his fierce little attendant. "But anyway, what's up with you, kid? I haven't seen ya all day."

"Oh, uh, nothing of note." He couldn't say that he was attempting to skip out on the wedding right to the king's face. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm happy. Real happy. I'll finally see 'm after so long." His tone did have some joy to it, but it was also somewhat... hesitant. "At sundown, I'm leading a search party to find him, and then… well, I guess that's where you guys take over."

"You're… alright with that, I assume?" It made him queasy to overstep his bounds this much. Despite their old status, he and his father were practically commoners here, only staying in the castle out of Daiya's charity.

His eyes flicked away for a split second, but landed back on him with that steadfast gaze. "Yeah. I know he's in good hands with you, kid." He grinned. "Ya know, it's funny to think you'll be my brother-in-law soon. Crazy. And he'll be right here..."

He loosened his mask a little, letting his smile wilt.

"I miss him. I miss Mondo so fuckin' much. I ain't ever stopped thinking about him, all these years. Wondering if that bastard got 'm and I wasn't there to protect him…"

"I'm sure the prince is perfectly safe, wherever he may be." He knew it wasn't much comfort. After all, it's not as if he knew Prince Mondo in any way. Still, he had to say something.

Daiya smiled a little. "I hope you're right." He shifted the subject. "You headed to the banquet hall? They're setting up the welcome feast now."

He couldn't leave. No, not after that. As he said before, he had responsibilities, both as an Ishimaru and as a subject to King Daiya. He couldn't disobey, no matter how much he longed to. It wasn't fair of him.

He trudged to the banquet hall, heart so heavy in his ribcage that he could barely lift his feet from the weight. His father was there, as was Daiya with Takemichi behind him. He sat down.

Servants brought out sparkling wine for the table, filling their cups. Takaaki raised his glass. "Skumps!"

Daiya raised his glass in turn. "Skumps!"

"A toast to this night. May our futures be as rosy as our cheeks."

"Damn, old man, you been savin' that one for 16 years?" Daiya cracked.

They drank.

Taka did not participate in the toast, nor eat anything placed on the table. He transformed into a seated statue, silent and static as stone. A fog of regret permeated his brain as he imagined the woodcutter and his family waiting for a guest who may never arrive.

Though they masked their moods with easy smiles (that eased more with each sip), the monarchs were similarly remorseful. Takaaki could see his boy hurting because of all this, but didn't act as not to sting him once more. Daiya, meanwhile, had his own troubles. He craved his sibling's company for years, but was expected to pass him over right away like a baton. He needed time, space, and room to breathe. He wanted to hold his kid brother without worrying he would be torn away from him at last. But he couldn't tell others he needed time to heal, because then he would have to admit that he was wounded.

Funny. His father died from something just like that. When he offered support to the Ishimarus as they fled, fighting off the insurgents, he returned to Diamanfous as a hero, unscathed. In reality, he had a horrid gash along his leg. He dressed it himself in his private chambers, his pride sliced even deeper. It became infected and he fell to disease, the castle doctors baffled.

Daiya, here and now, was cut open and desperate to make sure it wouldn't stain through his coat. Little did any of them realize that all at that table were bleeding and required the exact same bandage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **doofenshmirtz voice:** you're trapped... by societal convention!


	7. The Curse, Fulfilled

Mondo had no clue where he was going. That wasn't a detraction of his skills as a rider, no. If he was in a normal state of mind, navigating the countryside in a thunderstorm would be a cakewalk, which showed how talented he was. But here and now, he felt furious and saddened and betrayed beyond belief. It made sense his riding wouldn't be up to par.

That wasn't an excuse for running into the girl, it was just an explanation, one that not even Mondo himself would accept.

"Jesus Christ, are you okay?!" He cried as he dismounted and ran to her.

It wasn't as if he ran her over or anything grisly like that. No, she appeared and smacked against the animal as it galloped, thankfully pushing her out of the way. And though Mondo assumed she had been running in that direction and he was too inside his head to notice her coming, a hypothetical observer may say "appear" was an apt descriptor. As in, she popped into existence from a burst of feathers the moment Kawasaki made contact with a different creature entirely.

Regardless of what she once was, a young woman in a long dark dress lay in the mud, but as he approached quickly jumped to her feet.

"By your standards? I wouldn't say so, Buttercup! I'm completely fucked up! But physically, I'm golden. I'm the first and only line of defense for Ms. Showers Nevermore, after all. Can't buckle while I snip-snip away! It's unprofessional!"

He was at a loss for how to respond to all that. "Uh… do you like… need help or somethin'...? What the hell are you runnin' around out here for?"

"Oh, you know how it is, we got this _royally_ _killer_ deadline we gotta meet. If it doesn't go through, the Master will be furious!" Her long tongue peeked out from between her sharp teeth. She sighed with an obvious look of arousal, "Though, thinking about that, that'll be a sight to see, too…"

Okay, so this chick clearly had a head injury. At least, he _hoped_ how she was acting was just the result of a head injury, because it was majorly creeping him out.

"Is there any place we can go to getcha checked out?"

She gave him a huge grin, tongue lolling out in full. "Oh, I know _just_ the place we should go! A good spot to duck out of this storm and stay over! A _resting place_ , ya might say! Kyeehahaha!"

Mondo ignored how ominous that was. "Cool, cool. Get on the horse."

They got on and she told him the way to go. As they rode, she struck up a conversation.

"So, what are _you_ doing out here in the rain?"

"I'm runnin' away from home. I made a promise to someone I love that I would see him again, and I'll honor it no matter what."

"Oooo, I see! Wouldn't have _pegged_ ya for that type, Buttercup! I'm a connoisseur of boy's love myself…"

His stomach flipped. "I-I'm talkin' about _my brother_ , lady!"

"Oh, so it's _that_ kinda story! Ain't my cup of tea, but you do you!"

Mondo hated this. When he got to this Togami Manor place the chick told him about, he was going to bury his head in a pillow and never think about her implications with that statement ever, ever again.

They came upon a large gated estate. The gate was unlocked and Mondo left Kawasaki inside near the entrance to graze if she felt inclined. He and the woman walked through the sizable garden towards the mansion. The path through the garden was fine masonry work, bricks of rock cut and placed in perfect, tasteful diagonals. It was lined with life-sized statues-- 15 of them, all men frozen in various stages and flavors of terror. It sent a shiver down Mondo's spine just looking at them. The lightning that occasionally lashed from the clouds and lit them in dramatic light and shadow did not help matters.

"Why do rich people always have such creepy decor...?" he mumbled to himself. Was that hypocritical for him to say, considering he was apparently also rich?

They came to the door and after a knock a butler opened it, saying Ms. Jack (which was evidently the woman's name) had been expected. The butler did give Mondo a nod of acknowledgement, but didn't say anything to him before moving on to some other place in the house. Jack flounced down the long hall, and Mondo figured he had no choice but to follow her.

The mansion had a detached sort of opulence. The wallpaper, the clocks, the paintings hung up on the walls, it all was too much and too perfect. A table was polished clean yet completely unworn. It didn't feel like a person actually lived here, it felt like some sort of elaborate life-sized dollhouse.

He clutched his coat to himself for security. It was already starting to dry. Okay. This place was unnerving, but at least it was warm…

At the bottom of a grand staircase, Jack encountered a blonde man in glasses. He didn't look happy to see her, especially when she threw herself at him.

"Master! Oh, Master! I--"

"Get it ready," he said curtly.

"You got it!" She pulled away and took out a pair of scissors and ran off, tongue flapping as she dashed.

Thus, Mondo was stranded with the master of the house.

"Uh. Yo."

Togami said nothing, just stood there with his arms crossed, looking down his nose at him.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Name's Mondo. I, uh, was wonderin' if I could stay over for the night. At least 'til the rain lets up..."

Togami's eyes twitched briefly to a grandfather clock. Mondo turned to it just as quickly, anxious that something was going to pop out and pounce on him. Nothing came.

Well now he was annoyed. "Okay, the hell are you bein' so quiet for? Can'tcha talk? Or are you a snob that don't wanna talk to somebody like me?"

His head tilted down a little. "Of course I will speak with you, Your Highness. We're of comparable status, technically."

"W-what…? How did you…?" How _did_ he know? Not even Mondo himself knew his birthright until a few hours ago!

"You have the Owada family crest on your back." He said it a touch too quickly, like he was cooking it up in his head for much longer than he would even have a chance to glimpse the symbol.

"Oh."

He swiveled on his heel and strode beyond the stairs towards yet another hallway. "Come."

They walked deeper and deeper into the house. The walls were decorated with portraits of past Togami patriarchs.

"Big family ya got. Must be why you got such a big place, heh…"

"Yes. The cultivation of a proper heir is a science. Numerous trial runs are necessary."

"Trial runs…?"

"You see Your Highness, my family has a tradition: the family head breeds with the finest stock he finds. Once he accrues a sizable brood that comes of age, those offspring battle until there's only one left standing. That child, the culmination of the Togami family, becomes the new family head, and the father's portrait is created and mounted in this hall."

The way he spoke so clinically about his own family chilled Mondo to the bone. He used words like "breed" and "stock" and "offspring" like he was talking about the reproductive habits of finches, not human lives.

"And... what happens to everyone else?"

He directed his icy glare at him. "They are cast out. They exist out there, weathering the elements, and what little they had to offer was syphoned to me. That is the only use for the weak: to become a consumable for the strong. You agree, don't you?"

"What? No! That's fuckin' messed up!"

A beat.

"Hmph. I wonder why you're so adamant about that…"

"The hell's that s'posed to--?!"

He abruptly changed the subject. "Where have you been all these years, o prince? The populace has been very curious as to your hiding place."

He recalled his past with a wince. "The… the woods. I was living in a woodcutter's cottage."

There was a hint of amusement in Togami's voice. "A common dwelling…" He was quiet for a moment, then continued, "Tell me, was it dreadful? With my pedigree, I couldn't stand living in a place like that."

"No. I didn't know anything else." Yet, he longed for something beyond that homestead for so long.

"Oh?"

"I… forgot everything. What I was. My family. I had guardians that took care of me 'cause my parents' told 'em to, and somehow they did that to me. To protect me or… some shit."

"I see…" He turned his head. "Well, if common quarters are what you're used to, I will provide them. That is the way we're heading."

It didn't cross Mondo's mind to question why they were going that way if Togami only found out his situation at this very moment, but the suspicion still simmered in his subconscious. Everything he said and did was so methodical that it seemed… artificial. Like this whole interaction was scripted. But then again, given the way he talked about his flesh and blood, that may just be his personality.

They entered a humble chamber with a simple bed and nightstand on one side and a chair at the other. It looked like a servant's quarters, absent of ornamentation. Mondo felt abstractly that this was an insult coming from such a snob, but the royal reared as a rube would be more uncomfortable in an opulent room anyway. What really intrigued him was a wooden instrument that sat in the middle of the floor. It was a cylindrical pump of some sort with a vertical shaft sticking out of the top. The dasher was shabby in a way that suggested something far worse than daily wear and tear. In fact, in the woodcutter's expert opinion, it looked like someone hacked at it with a tool completely unsuited to the task.

"What's that?" He said, pointing as he approached it.

"It's a butter churn-- a peasant's tool. Surely you must have seen one while you were in hiding."

Mondo shook his head. "Nope. Never." It did seem familiar, though, with a foggy feeling of recognition buzzing at the back of his brain.

"How odd. It's such a common tool, even the simplest of simpletons could operate one. I wonder why your guardians kept it out of your reach…"

He turned back and his eyes narrowed on him. "What're you saying?"

"I'm simply making observations," he said, glasses glinting. "Let me guess, they wouldn't have you cook or clean, either."

"No… they always did it..."

He cruelly smirked. "My, what an interesting position you find yourself in, prince. Rejected by your own family, then babied by another. Neither with any real faith in you."

"What?" He wasn't sure why he said that. It was something he thought even before his birthday.

He explained, tone growing darker as he carried on, "Of course with the parents that abandoned you, that's obvious. To them, you were a waste, a leech that sucked the pleasure from their lives. But to your guardians, too, you were a waste of space. An obligation. They were mandated to protect you. And do you know why? Because you're weak. Insignificant. You've done nothing of value in the entire 16 years you've been alive, and you never will. Even a peasant can at least produce a crock of butter..."

That ice cold stare piercing through his very soul and ripping out all his insecurities with surgical precision was too much to bear. Mondo didn't care if he was a guest in this man's house or if Togami was some nobleman with a millennia-spanning bloodline, all that mattered was that he was an asshole that deserved recompense.

"YA WANNA SEE ME MAKE SOME FUCKIN' BUTTER, JACKASS?! HUH?! I'LL MAKE BUTTER OUTTA YOU!" Mondo gripped the churn's dasher, ready to weld it as a bludgeon. The moment he touched it, however, his eyes went wide. He felt a stabbing pain, like an invisible dagger sliced all the way up his arm and directly into his heart. He jerked his hand away to find his palm laced with splinters.

"Wha… that's it…? I'm a ca… carpenter… that's not s'posed to… to…"

He was trying to say "to slow me down," but his mouth wouldn't obey him. His jaw was going slack. In fact, his entire figure, so tense from his conversation with Togami, was coming undone. In an instant, his legs were too relaxed to support him and he collapsed.

Togami spoke as unenthusiastically as before. "I must say, for 16 years of build-up, this is such an anticlimax. I barely had to prod at you. Even when you die, you're a disappointment."

Wait, die? Was he dying? Why was he dying? He just got a few splinters.

His mind was growing cloudy, but an answer appeared in the mist: the curse. The one Yasuhiro talked about, which was placed on him as a baby. The spell Togami evidently cast.

He didn't have the strength to lift his head, but locked his suddenly weary eyes straight on Togami's.

"Fuck you…"

Those were his parting words. He grew so sleepy that he could no longer speak, and his eyelids became so heavy that they fell like stones. A moment later, consciousness, and life as the warlock assumed, left Mondo completely.

Jack, who was out in the hallway listening to the altercation, now stood in the doorway. She shuddered with arousal, tongue lolling. "Oh, Master! Did you hear yourself? You cut him into little pieces with only words! It was so hot!"

"Dispose of the body," he ordered, barely giving her a glance as he passed her for the door.

She giggled with glee and wrapped her arms around Mondo's chest. She hauled him up with ease, only to grouse, "Man, how rude can you be!"

He stopped and looked back. "Hm?"

"Not you. I'm talking about our little Buttercup. You go to all this hassle placing a death curse on him, and he doesn't even have the courtesy to die! It's bad form!"

Byakuya turned completely, an expression of shock fixed to his face. "What? That's not possible. Surely you're mistaken."

"Master, there's two things I know about in this world: cute boys and dead bodies. This? This ain't that. Firstly he's too beefy for my liking, but besides that, he's still breathing."

Silently, he stepped forward and snatched the prince's limp wrist. Royal blood still pulsed through his veins.

"Those fairies…" he seethed, "...they cheated me out of my victory. The victory I was assured as a Togami!"

For the first time in his life, the warlock's tongue was burned with the vile taste of failure. His well-laid plan went awry and the prince was still alive. He threw the hand down like it was a piece of garbage and turned to storm away.

Wait.

The prince… was still alive. Alive, but sleeping.

"Take him to the bedroom in the highest tower."

"What? Why?"

"If they went through the trouble of casted a counterspell, that means they plan to revive him somehow. They'll be coming for him, so we will lie in wait, just as he does."

She understood and obeyed, dragging Mondo down the hall and out of sight. Togami, meanwhile, left to collect his staff. He didn't think he would use it tonight, but a part of him was glad he had the opportunity. This game of revenge was getting far more interesting.

He slammed the end against the floor. Outside, a bolt of lightning struck the ground just beyond his walls. The earth shook and began to split. Kawasaki galloped away and brayed in terror as giant brambles erupted from the soil, coiling into the thickest thicket to ever grace this land or any other.

Togami smirked. If they were going to play dirty, so was he.

All the while, Mondo slept, strong-armed by fate into repose. Completely and blissfully unaware of the outside world, he awaited the kiss of his true love to set him free.

At least, this was how it appeared to a person on the outside. A clever reader should know by now that visions are seldom all they seem...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bruh honestly idk how to write Genocide Jack. I'm still digging my heels in the ground regarding playing the second chapter because I don't wanna watch my favs suffer (plus I'm really busy) so I don't really know her vibe as well as the other characters. I hope it's not too jarring.
> 
> and yes Byakuya turned all his siblings to stone and his dad into a painting and is fueling his magic via their life force, what of it? that's how a Togami do.


End file.
